The new filly in town
The Belle household was getting ready for bed. Sweetie Belle sat at her window, watching the blizzard that was engulfing Ponyville. She heard the clip-clop of her mother’s hooves in the hallway and immediately scurried to her bed. Pearl peeked into her daughter’s room.
“Mom, can you tell me a story?” Sweetie asked.
Pearl smiled and nuzzled her filly.
“Sure, Sweetie. Which story do you want to hear tonight?” she asked.
“Mom, I don’t want to hear any old story. I want to hear about when you and dad met. It was when you were my age, right?” Sweetie Belle smiled at her mother.
“You sure Sweetie? It’s a long story,” Pearl advised to Sweetie Belle.
“That’s okay. I like long stories, mom. If I do get sleepy, you can stop and save the rest for tomorrow.”
Pearl cleared her throat and began to tell Sweetie Belle about the events that lead up to that fateful day.
Pearl looked at the train with disgust. It was going to take her and her family away from their home in Neigh Jersey and off to some horse town called Maneasota. She hated the dumb train that was going to take her away from her friends, just as she hated the dumb stallion that put daddy out of business and made them move away from her friends and her house. Pearl’s train of thought was broken by the voice of her mother.
“There you are, Pearl! Let’s get on the train and find a good seat.”
Pearl turned to face her mother, a lavender-coated unicorn with a turquoise mane. She was carrying a foal in a sling.
“Mama, I’m not gonna like Maneasota. Why did daddy have to pick that dumb boring town to move us to? Couldn’t he just open up another business back home?”
“Pearl, I know how you feel, but daddy had to close down his shop because of the competition, and he couldn’t pass up this opportunity to open up a new business.”
Pearl begged, trying to make her family miss the train.
“Sweet heart, you know I can’t do that with baby Emerald to take care of. We’re going, whether you like it or not.”
Pearl hung her head down in defeat as she, her mother, and her sister entered the train and found a place to sit.
“Daddy cares more about having a job than he does about me and Emerald.” Pearl muttered
“That isn’t true, young lady.”
Pearl turned around to face a unicorn stallion with a tawny coat and and brass colored mane
“If I didn’t care about you and your sister I wouldn’t have taken the offer in Maneasota. We can’t afford the tuition for your school anymore,” Brass Ring explained
Pearl frowned.
“Daddy, those country Maneasota foals don’t want to be friends with a Neigh Jersey filly like me. They’ll think I’m stuck up,” she said.
Sea Shell nuzzled her frowning filly and spoke in an encouraging tone.
“Pearl, you’ll make plenty of friends in Maneasota, because you’re a sweet and caring filly. Besides you’ll always have me, daddy, and baby Emerald.”
Emerald looked up at her mother and began to whimper.
“Looks like somepony’s hungry.”
Sea Shell magicked a bottle out of Emerald’s diaper bag, but was halted by Pearl.
“Mama, can I feed Emerald? I’ll be careful this time.”
Sea Shell gave her daughter a nervous smile. She loved to have a daughter that always wanted to help out and wasn’t jealous, but there was always the fact that Pearl was accident prone and that Emerald was a premature foal and needed care constantly.
“Honey, you’re right by Pearl and she’s not as clumsy as she used to be. Let her feed Emerald.”
Sea Shell sighed and walked Pearl through how to hold Emerald, feed her, and burp her. Emerald yawned and snuggled her older sister, Pearl smiled and nuzzled her baby sister.
“I love you, Emerald.”
Sea Shell kissed her older daughter.
“That was very sweet of you to help with your sister Pearl. You’re a friendly caring filly. That’s why you had friends in Neigh Jersey and that’s how you’ll have friends in Maneasota,” she said.
“You think so mama?” Pearl replied.
“I’m sure of it. We’ll be in Maneasota before you know it.” Pearl smiled at her parents and began to think about Maneasota and the foals she was going to befriend and whatever lay ahead for her family.
“Heard you tellin’ Sweetie Belle the story about how we met when we were foals,” Magnum said as he nuzzled his wife and ruffled his daughter’s mane, “How about I tell you the rest, Sweetie?” Sweetie Belle smiled at her father and nodded.
“This is going to be the bestest bedtime story I’ve heard!” Sweetie said with her usual squeaky tone. Magnum smiled at his foal and began to tell her about the day that he met her mother.
It was a beautiful summer day in the town of Maneasota, and to a colt named Magnum, it was the best summer ever. Magnum had just got a cutie mark in hoofball, his favorite sport. On this particular day, Magnum and his father were playing a game of hoofball in the front yard while his mother sat at the picnic table with his older sister.
“Get ready dad! I’m gonna kick the ball!” Magnum told his father. He readied himself, then kicked the hoofball high in the air hoping his father would catch it. Chief caught the ball with his magic, then led him and his son into a touchdown.
“Good kick, Magnum. Just keep practicing, and someday you’ll be a football star like Quarterback. Now I gotta take a rest,” Chief said. He plopped down in a chair and magicked a glass of lemonade that his wife had made. “Primrose, you’ve had your snout buried in that silly gossip magazine all day, how about you play a round of hoofball with your old dad and your brother?”
Primrose looked up from her tabloid and said, “Father, I’m spending my last days in Maneasota and I refuse to spend them to playing foolish games in the dirt. Besides, dirt is very difficult to get out of my white coat.” Magnum rolled his eyes.
“Primrose, why are you way too uptight about everything? You hate everything, ya hate the outdoors, hate dirt, and you hate hoofball. There’s something wrong with you if you hate hoofball and another thing stop talking like that! You’re not from Canterlot, you’re a Maneasotan!” Magnum yelled. Primrose was always the oddball of the family, she always cared about what clothes were in style, what the Canterlot elite were eating or doing-whatever those snobby ponies did. It wasn’t until a few years ago she began to talk like them. The only thing in Canterlot he cared about was the hoofball team. In fact, he hoped to play for them one day.
“Magnum, I’m going to a reputable acting school in Canterlot. In acting, sacrifices must be made, and that dreadful accent had to be one of them. Don’t you constantly talk about how you want to go to Canterlot to play that silly little sport of yours?” Primrose said in a condescending voice. It almost caused Magnum to have another outburst, when their mother spoke up.
“Heard we’re getting new neighbors today. They’re a family from Neigh Jersey. Heard they have a filly Magnum’s age
Magnum replied to his mother, “If she’s anything like Primrose, I won’t be playin’ with her.”
“Don’t say that Magnum dear, she could be your special somepony,” Primrose said. She as she stuck her tongue out at Magnum.
“Special somepony? Ew, why would I want a special somepony Prim? I ain’t ever gettin’ married. I’ll be too busy playing hoofball in Canterlot.” Chief chuckled at Magnum’s words.
“Never say never son.” Chief said as he nuzzled Bouquet. Magnum made a face of disgust at the sight of his parents showing affection
“Really dad?”
His parents laughed. then his mother spoke up “Magnum, you be nice to the new filly, I heard her family going through a hard time. If you promise me that you’ll be nice, I’ll take you to the park.”
Magnum nodded.
Magnum always loved going to the park to play sports with his friends, to fish, or just to get away from Primrose’s constant nagging. He still didn’t like the idea of having to play with a filly that he barely knew. He decided to sit underneath his favorite tree in the park and began to daydream about the day he would lead his team to the Pony Bowl. He could see himself scoring the winning touchdown as the crowd cheered him on, when a squeaky voice of a filly brought his daydream to a screeching halt. Magnum looked up to see a pink coated filly, with a purple mane and the most radiant blue eyes. The filly spoke again.
“Hi, I’m Pearl! I just moved here. Will you play with me?”
Magnum stood up quick and locked eyes with the filly. She was the most beautiful filly Magnum had ever laid eyes on. He couldn’t believe that he was having feeling for a filly and especially one he just met.
“Um, H-hi! I’m Magnum! S-sure pretty, uh I mean Pearl.”
Pearl giggled at Magnum and said “You’re funny. I like you.”
Magnum began to think what kind of games a filly like Pearl would play. “Hey Pearl, You want to swing?”
“Ok, Magnum, I’ll race you!” Pearl darted towards the swings while Magnum tried to catch up with the speedy filly, but failed to beat her to the swings. “Boy Pearl, you’re faster than you look.” Magnum said as he panted.
“I see that you got your cutie mark. I don’t know if I’ll ever get mine,” Pearl said as she looked at her blank flank.
“Don’t worry Pearl, you’ll get your cutie mark, you just got to find something that you like to do,” Magnum said.
Pearl asked, “Magnum, are the teacher and foals nice? I’m afraid of being made fun of because I’m a filly from Neigh Jersey.”
“Miss Fundamental’s okay, unless you don’t turn in your homework. Don’t worry about being made fun of, because everypony knows not to mess me!” Magnum said as he flexed his forehoof. Pearl smiled. “So why did your family family decide to move here in the first place?” Pearl frowned again and began to tell Magnum about how her dad’s dumb shop closed down because of some other shop and how he then he got a letter from a stallion that used to be an old friend telling him about an opportunity to open a shop in Manesota. Pearl told him about her friends and
her old school she had to leave behind. Magnum hopped off of his swing and hugged Pearl. It felt strange for Magnum to hug somepony else besides his mom, but it also felt good.
“Cheer up Pearl, I’m gonna be your friend. Since you’re my friend, I’ll be takin’ you to my favorite spot to fish.”
Pearl smiled. “I’ve never really been fishing. My momma says she doesn’t like me to play in the dirt and mud because it’s not very ladylike.”
Magnum rolled his eyes and said “Your mom reminds me of my older sister Primrose. She’s gonna be leavin’ for Canterlot in a couple of weeks to go to some acting school.”
“Won’t you miss her when she’s gone?” Pearl asked.
Magnum scoffed and said, “No, she’s a pain in the flank.” Magnum then cleared his throat and began to talk in his sister’s Canterlot accent. “Father, I will not play with Magnum because my coat will get all dirty. I have to talk in this accent because I want those fabulous Canterlot ponies to like me.” Pearl giggled at Magnum and told him about her baby sister Emerald, how she tiny and sick she was at birth, and how her mother rarely let her help out. The two foals spent the rest of their time looking at the clouds and telling each other what shapes the clouds looked like until Pearl heard their mothers calling their names telling them it was time to go home. Magnum waved bye to his new friend. “Hey, I can show you my secret hangout next time we play.” Pearl looked back and said, “Okay! See you later!” Magnum then ran to his mother and told her about the friend that he had just made. Bouquet Wishes nuzzled her son and said, “I’m very proud of you for playing with that new filly. Now let’s go home.”
“Can she come over to the house and play mom?” Magnum asked.
“We’ll have to see what her mother says.” Bouquet replied as they walked home.
“...and that’s the story of the day me and your mom met,” Magnum finished.
Sweetie yawned, barely keeping her eyes open, and said, “Can I hear more, please?”
Magnum nuzzled his filly and said, “We’ll tell you more some other time.”
Pearl tucked Sweetie in and said, “It’s time for bed, good night my little pony.” Sweetie Belle recieved a kiss from both of her parents and drifted off to sleep. Magnum put a hoof around his wife as they left Sweetie Belle’s room and retreated to their bedroom. Pearl kissed her husband and said, “I’m so glad that stallion wrote my father that letter. If he hadn’t, we wouldn’t have our family. I love you so much, Magnum.”